THE POSSIBILITY OF A CAPITAL SHORTAGE HAS BEEN THREATENED BY GOVERNMENT AND ACADEMIC PEOPLE. THESE ECONOMISTS SUGGEST THAT PERSONAL CONSUMPTION AND GOVERNMENT SPENDING PREEMPT FUNDS NEEDED FOR CAPITAL FORMATION, BUT THERE IS NO EVIDENCE FOR THIS. PROPOSED SOLUTIONS WOULD BENEFIT OWENRS OF CAPITAL ASSETS WITHOUT MANDATING INVESTMENT OR GUIDING THE DIRECTION OF INVESTMENT.
A review essay on a book by John Cornwell, Hitler's Pope: The Secret History of Pius XII (NY: Viking, 1999). This biography of Eugenio Pacelli, who became Pope in 1939, indicts him for failing to speak out against the Nazi genocide of European Jews, contending that he had full knowledge of the horrors that were being perpetrated by Adolf Hitler, but became his pawn through his silence. It is contended here that Cornwell's arguments, though thoroughly documented, are sometimes contradicted by his own political & historical insights. In reality, the papacy has never been any secular leader's pawn, which makes Pius's complicity in this event that much more morally heinous. The history of the Vatican's indifference to the Jewish plight is traced, noting Pius's long-standing anti-Semitism & the impact of the concordat between the Nazis & the Holy See in 1933; the effect on other Western Christian nations is discussed. Indifference by both the papacy & the German episcopate to the Nazi murders of leading Catholic laypersons & intellectuals in 1934 & to the occupation of Poland in 1939 is also described. An encyclical rejecting racialism & embracing the inclusiveness of all peoples drafted for the Pope (though he died before approving it) nonetheless endorses the separation of Jews from Christians on the grounds of the former's "spiritual dangers." The Church's adversus Judaeus tradition of Christian teachings is also reconsidered in light of the Holocaust. K. Hyatt Stewart
Statistically documents labor market dualism & the internationalization of the division of labor, rejecting labor market deregulation as a substitute for true monetary & employment policy. Labor market dualism describes the development of a polarized workforce of well-paid professionals/skilled workers & poorly paid, insecurely employed, low-skilled workers. Dualism is contended to account for the relatively low US unemployment rate, which hides real employment problems, including insufficient nonservice job creation & very low wages for large numbers of workers. Monetary policymakers in industrialized countries tend to ignore these problems or label them as structural unemployment, continuing to favor high interest rates & international wage & price competition. Against them, the International Labor Organization's call for increased economic growth & full, secure employment is applauded. E. Blackwell
US neoliberal discourse against social programs of the welfare state capitalizes on the (unrelated) budget deficit & on work policies favoring labor flexibilization & indirect deregulation of employment. Other factors contributing to the instability of the welfare state include: the move to institute means-testing reforms to social security benefits; & the income-depressing effects of long-term unemployment & job insecurity. Challenges to current social services, including cutbacks in entitlements (food stamp programs, income maintenance, Aid to Families with Dependent Children) are aggravating an already inadequate welfare system. The welfare state's mission to protect future generations & to provide a security blanket against rapid changes in the business climate & technology affecting industrial relations is being jeopardized. J. Sadler
AS OF NOW, THE PRINCIPLES OF PROFITABILITY AND EFFICIENCY WILL BE INVOKED TO RESOLVE THE PROBLEMS OF EAST GERMAN INDUSTRY, WITH UNEMPLOYMENT AND WIDENING WAGE DIFFERENTIALS SURE TO FOLLOW. REAL POVERTY IS ALSO EXPECTED. TOGETHER, THESE FACTORS WILL ERODE SOCIAL SOLIDARITY AND DIM, FOR SOME TIME TO COME, THE PROSPECTS FOR SOCIAL DEMOCRACY IN EAST GERMANY.
